Buckroe Can't Live Up To Ambience

Taste of Tidewater

Perfect Location Marred By Service

July 26, 2000|By L.. A. FINNERAN Daily Press

HAMPTON — Sitting on the deck at the Buckroe Beach Grille is almost like taking a mini vacation from everyday life.

Boats bob in the water along the attached piers while seagulls and other birds sail overhead. The smell of saltwater and sand seems to permeate the air. A light breeze keeps diners comfortable on a summer evening.

In fact, when we visited the only thing that could have completed the ambiance was a little Jimmy Buffett music.

It's too bad that the rest of the dining experience was so disappointing that unless I

hear they've made changes, I doubt we will return to this lovely spot anytime soon. One server was rude, the menu was quite limited, and the service, in general, was slow. That's three strikes - in case you're counting.

Both the outdoor deck and bar areas were fairly busy when we arrived one recent Monday. There was no host or hostess to seat us, so we basically had to chase down a waitress who acted as if we were bothering her to ask about a table. There weren't any available on the deck overlooking the marina, and she pointed us toward a front deck before turning her back and rushing away.

Strike one.

The front deck overlooked the parking lot and wasn't very inviting, so we went back inside and asked if we could wait for the next open table.

We sat at the bar and 15 minutes later watched as a server gave our table to another group of diners. As soon as employees noticed their mistake, they apologized profusely and we were seated outside within five minutes.

Once we were finally seated, we got to sit back, enjoy the atmosphere and peruse the menu. And quite frankly, I found it unimaginative and - with only nine entrees and five sandwiches - disappointing.

Strike two.

From that point it seemed like an eternity (although it was probably closer to 20 minutes) until our food arrived on the table. (Later it took what seemed like far too long for our server to bring the check.)

Strike three.

The appetizer and raw bar sections of the menu actually had the most offerings (16), so we tried the calamari ($6.95) and a half dozen steamed oysters ($5.95).

The calamari included only the small, tender rings - for calamari eaters, that means none of those scary-looking tentacles. None were bigger than an inch across. Each piece was lightly floured and fried to a golden crispness and served with a cool tomato marinara sauce. This was definitely one of the better calamari dishes I've sampled over the years.

The six oysters were also well cooked, just enough to be tender and done, and were served with both drawn butter and cocktail sauce.

For dinner we both had the Caesar salad ($5.25 plain, $6.50 with grilled chicken, $8.95 with blackened mahi mahi and $8.50 with grilled yellowfin tuna). The salad was OK - a good amount of greens topped with a typical bottled Caesar dressing and a generous amount of grated Parmesan cheese and homemade croutons. What sort of threw me was the inclusion of a few un-Caesar-like items: tomato wedges, shaved carrot, onions and cucumber. I could have done without those additions, but they were pretty easy to eat around.

So while the food was tasty and the atmosphere enjoyable, if you go, expect to wait awhile.